Puppy Still Barking In Morning....

[Kylie and the black Lab]

Jedda is now nearly 5 months old and at first she was barking at 4.30 in the morning.

She still barks every single morning at between 6 and 6.40am.

She does not stop barking until she hears that one of us is getting up. She is then quiet as she knows we don't open the door for her unless she is quiet. It is then walkies time.

Why does she continue to bark like this every single morning???? She does get a walk every morning so it's not like she has to beg for it!! She won't even let us sleep past 7am on weekends!!!!

Any suggestions are welcome as this is the only consistent problem we have with her, otherwise she is fantastic!

Cheers, Kylie

[sidoney]

IMO, Jedda is a smart dog and knows that you getting up is one in a series of events that leads eventually to her being let out (or in?).

Bark - hear person getting up - be quiet - get let through door.

From your description, she understands the sequence, and her reward for barking would be to hear you getting up.

Is there any way you can change that? That is, can you think of a way to NOT reward her for barking?

For example, can you get up only when she's quiet, either when she has hushed up, or before she starts?

Can you rig a behaviour interruptor? Where is she when she's barking?

Edited March 26, 2007 by sidoney

[Dogs4Fun]

Well she is getting what she wants by her barking. Barking = owners get up and take her for a walk.

[Rain]

I simply wouldnt get up until she stops barking, as you are giving her what she wants.

[Kylie and the black Lab]

Yes, Jedda is a smart little cookie, that is for sure!

She sleeps outside in her houndhouse and basically wakes early enough that we never wake before her. We have only even woken her around 4 times. It is her barking that wakes us up even before our alarm clock.

She only goes silent at intervals, so there is really no window to reward except for in these "moments". So are we still rewarding her for barking even when she is quiet??

Will she grow out of this or are we just reinforcing the behaviour by going to her in the quiet moment (even if it is an hour after she initially started barking)????

We are in a two story house so how she even hears our movement in the bedroom I don't know???????

Cheers, Kylie

[Kylie and the black Lab]

Hi Monie,

She WONT stop!!! The longest has been an hour and a half... of the winging and barking... (and I don't want the neighours to throw onions at her either!!)

[sidoney]

Dogs have super duper hearing and she would be focused on listening for you. You are sure that her stopping barking is linked to your getting up? If it's the same time, then the association is pretty clear.

If she's chained the behaviour - and if the above association is clear, then it sounds possible - then perhaps something more fundamental needs to be changed.

A possible change could be to move her inside at night, in a crate. My two Shepherd fosters have just had that change and the difference was remarkable.

If she was crated with a radio on in the same room she would not be able to hear you getting up. You would not need to blast her, just enough to cover background noises. Then you could sneak up on her crate room and reward her for being quiet by letting her out.

OR have a "reward marker" and/or "bridge cue" (the terminology varies a little), the "good dog" that means reward is coming, tell her "good dog" when she is quiet, and then go to her (I might repeat it as I come closer, if she remains quiet) and let her out without delay - but only if she remains quiet. If you do begin to use a reward marker, make sure you use it in other situations as well, so she knows it.

Edited March 26, 2007 by sidoney

[Kylie and the black Lab]

Would the crate be a temporary or permanent solution?

As we have gone through the progression of adjusting her sleeping from ensuite to laundry and to outside. Our preference is to keep her outside as she can wonder around playing and do her toilet business. When she was in the laundry she would wake even earlier and bark as she needed to go to the toilet - so outside has eleviated that problem. She loves her houndhouse and putting her out at night isn't a problem at all - not one bark.

Could we put the radio near her houndhouse???

Some people are saying to ignore her until she is quiet for a period of time, but I just worry about the neighbours.....

[sidoney]

If you had no neighbours, I'd say try leaving her outside and only let her hear you move when she is quiet.

See if the radio near her sleep area does anything.

If not, you may need to move her back in for a while.

At her age she should not need to go to the toilet during the night, if she has a last pit stop before bed (unless she is ill with diarrhoea or something). You could be pretty confident that barking would be for another reason.

IMO a crate in the laundry would be the way to go - not free run of the laundry.

It sounds like she has been rewarded for this barking - possibly by being let out to go toilet when younger. Which she may or may not have actually needed to do at the time, depending on how old she was.

Now you need to stop an established behaviour, which will be more difficult than preventing one from starting, but it's doable.

Be aware that when you stop a behaviour by stopping the rewards for it, the behaviour will get worse before it gets better (if something that works first time (like a lift button) doesn't work, you'll press it a few times in a row, harder and faster, before you give up - it's called the "extinction burst").

And if you give in to the barking, even just once, it will make it harder to stop overall, since she will then know that if it doesn't work nine times, then it might on the tenth - you get the drift.

[Kavik]

At 5 months Jedda should be able to hold on during the night.

Mine are crated at night, the worst I get is Kaos digging in his crate to be let out in the morning, but he doesn't bark (and he is one of my noisier dogs generally), so it can be ignored more easily.

[Dogsfevr]

Dogs are creatures of habit & very routine but often people stick to such a schedule that the dog pre emps everything.They now when its feed time,walk time,there time etc etc.

I dare say for this girl the highlight of her morning is seeing you ,then gets her walk ,feed .Every day .

How long has she been outside permantly ???

[Kylie and the black Lab]

The barking is definately an attention thing and it is the only time of the day that she is a little pain!!!!

She definately is barking to get our attention and stops when she hears one of us come down the stairs...

When she stayed at my parents for 2 nights recently she barked from 5am non stop until my dad went out to her...

Is crating really the way to go? or is the ignore tactic the way to do it. I would really like to keep to her outside sleeping routine now that she is older...

[sidoney]

Ignore depends on the neighbours a bit. Perhaps you could go and visit them and tell them that you want to fix your dog's barking, but that it might take a little while. See what they say.

[Griffo]

lol my dog is 2yo and still does that. "wake up mummy, come and get me, it is time for a ride!!" and she wont shut up till i do. then she is fine.

[♥Bruno♥]

My ridgy boy is also 5 months, and he doesnt bark in the mornings but usually wakes me by crying at the window around 6am. Ok, this might sound weird but if you had a baby who cried every morning at 6am, what would you do? Because at 5 months they are still young. My baby just wants a feed! Once I get up and get him his brekky, he happily plays and sleeps until about 10ish. Have you tried this??

[R00]

Just my opinion, but I don't really understand the reluctance to use a crate in the laundry.

Having a dog sleep the entire night in a crate in the laundry is pretty much close to have the dog sleeping outside.

There is no effort or work required, the dog can't damage anything inside the house at night, the dog gets to understand crate=sleep, the dog and owners (and neighbours) will all get a good nights sleep. And last but not least you will always know that your pooch is safe and warm during the night.

Then first thing in the morning , WHEN YOU GET UP, NOT THE DOG you let him out into the backyard. This way you are totally breaking an established routine, allowing you to build a new routine that is much more conducive to happy family and happy neighbours.

Dogs don't need to fidget during the night, they need to be trained to sleep.

I had never used crates until I got my pup 8 weeks ago and for the record it is the best thing I ever did. Erik the pooch sleeps right through the night and I know he is always safe and warm.

Cheers

Roo

[t-time]

I'm all for the crate in the laundry idea - at least she might be a little further from the neighbours

OR:

You can try DISRUPTING the routine...

Get up in the morning, do what you want to do, make a coffee, have a shower whatever, BEFORE you go to the dog - make her WAIT. This way, you can also ensure that you will only be going to her when she's QUIET

At the moment, you are simply rewarding her barking behaviour. She knows that you WILL come if she barks for long enough

Make sure the neighbours are aware you are trying to do something about your barking dog, regardless of which route you want to take - a little understanding goes a long way

Good luck

[Kylie and the black Lab]

morning....

Thismorning's events - Jedda started barking at 5.30am. I very quietly got out of bed at 5.45am and got dressed for the walk... I stood near the laundry door while she was silent for 5 minutes (could she feel my prescence - think YES!). Then let her in. She is very excited but doesn't bark at all. She sits and watches me go to the loo, get her lead etc and off we go.

So i think it is a "wake up mummy" call - but I do walk her EVERY morning, she doesn't need to get her nickers in a knot at sunrise.....

please tell me the barking every morning doesn't last till 2 years!!!!

I really don't want to crate her as she is content the whole night, but is there any way to just stop the barking when the walk and inside is DEFINATELY coming, but just on my watch, not hers!

Cheers, Kylie

[Rhi]

Maybe you could try totally distrupting her routine, just until the association between barking and walkies is broken.

Ie In the morning get up do 'your' thing (coffee, shower, breakfast), after your finished your routine then let her in or go for a walk. maybe even walking her in the afternoon for a while. Hopefully that way she learns that you'll respond to her in your own time not visa versa.

Like someone said earlier it may get worse before it gets better.

Another option... if she can hear you coming down the stairs then she should be able to hear a 'silent whistle' (available from pet stores), during the day you could introduce it as a 'naughty' sound... when she associates the whistle with being naughty you maybe able to blow from the comfort of your own bed!

[sidoney]

Rhi's suggestion of disrupting the walk routine sounds good to me. IME if dogs get TOO used to a routine then disrupting it can even cause stress and illness. If she's getting excited and worked up about a walk then asking her to sit quietly before you walk, while you do the coffee thing, and/or doing it in the evening at times, can only help with her own ability to cope with change.